Surgical saws of the sagittal type for performing bone surgery have been extensively utilized for many years. These saws have normally employed an elongated saw blade having an arcuate toothed segment on one end thereof, with the other end of the blade being pivotally mounted to permit angular oscillation of the blade. Typical such saws are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,854,981 and 3,678,934, which saws have been satisfactorily usable for forming short longitudinal cuts within a bone. These saws, however, have not permitted the blade to be moved laterally along the bone to permit formation of a long cut without endangering the bone or the surrounding tissue. These saws have also not been satisfactory for use with deep cuts since deep cuts require that the toothed edge of the blade be spaced a greater distance from the pivot axis, thereby resulting in larger peripheral movement which often is of sufficient magnitude as to damage the tissue surrounding the bone.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved surgical device, particularly a sagittal saw, which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages. Particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved surgical saw which can enter the side of a bone and can then be moved laterally as to permit the formation of a long lateral cut without endangering the bone or the surrounding tissue. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a surgical saw which can be utilized for rather deep cuts while maintaining the cutting stroke of the saw rather small, such as less than approximately one-eighth inch, in order to avoid damage to the surrounding tissue.
In the present invention, the desired lateral movement of the cutting edge is achieved by moving the cutting edge of the saw along a substantially endless path, which path is formed as a closed loop and has a portion thereof defining the cutting stroke of the saw.
Other objects and purposes of the present invention will be apparent to persons acquainted with devices of this type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.